Ground speed indicator



Dec. w42.

T. O. SUMMERS, .JR

GROUND SPEED INDICATOR 5 Smets-Sheet Filed Sept. 26, 1940 www1.-

Hill! i VENGR. 7,2/0/@45 (5; iff/WM5 d@ Y mw Mam@

T, C3. SUMMERS, JR

GROUND SPEED INDICATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept.

W. W T T.. A

De is w42- T o.. SUMMERSJQ WQ GROUND SPEED. NDICAToR Filed Sept. 26, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 R w Q v Y u ATTORNEY.

Del, 1942. T.4 o. sUMMERs, JR. 2,303,799 GROUND SPEED INDICATOR Filed Sept. 26, 1940 l 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. Ha/45 0. .5m/m5 de.

A TTORNEY.

Dec. 1, 1942.

T. o. SUMMERS JR G RoUND :SPEED INDICATOR Y Filed sept. 26, 1940 5 sheets-sheet 5 INVENTOR. fifa/V45 0. 5am/fk5 da.

ATTORNEY.

A of this vgeneral class employing a Patented Dec. i, 1942 s fTA'rEsrArEN enormi) srsmjr marcaron". y Thomas 0. Summers, Julio: Angeles, Calif. y Application September 28, 19E, Serial No.' $58,543

,4 (ci. sae-264) This'invention relates to navigational'A instruments, and more4 particularly 'to an instrument an essential portion thereof.

One object ofmy invention is to provide a gyroscopic instrument which functions independently 'of any movements on the part of the medium being traversed by the instruments carrier',

svroscvpe as to give at all times an indication ofthe speed of the instruments carrier relative to a xed or constantly moving object. Such an instrument is especially useful in the navigation of both air- .tion becomes displaced from the vertical plane 4 craft and water craft for the reason that it is-v ing the speed of the'instruments carrier in its direction of travel,and which utilizes the principle of summing up and registering these accelerations as they occur.

A sun more detailed object hi this onneuon i is'to provide a gyros'copic ground speed indicating instrument in which the acceleration-sensitive portion is made sensitive by being pendulous- V`.ly supported and therefore is urged to swing whenever the instruments carrier is subjected to .an acceleration, and wherein the pendulously supported structurev also is so interconnected with the gyros rotor-bearing casing that the casing is urged to turn therewith, thus causing the gyo to precess proportionally with the acceleration to which the pendulous structurelles responded.

with the purpose in view of providing properly calibrated means for measuring the extent'of the gyros prece'ssion so as to make available a direct reading of the carriers attained velocity.

Another important object is to provide means for making the `acceleration-sensitive portion of the instrument of my invention insensitive toy gravity. A more detaiiedobiect in this connection is to associate a mobile, gravity-controlled gyroscope,

or gyro vertical construction with the acceleration-sensitive portion in such a manner that the interrupt the air-iet torque at recurrent in A acceleration-sensitive portion is allowed to move only in a vertical plane which is ynormal to the horizontal'line of travel of the instrument's car- A gym vertical instrument of the type which I have 'found to be most suitably adaptableto the ground speed indicating instrument or the present invention, isnthe type employing a-'gravity- Operated erecting mechanism, the function of which when adapted to the ground speed indicatto which itsmovements are` sought to be conned.

Hovvcvensuch a mechanism is conducive to acceleration-error, since it is impossible to .arrange the mechanism so that .itwul be sensitive tothe vertically acting forces .of gravity. and yet -insensitive to horizontally acting forces caused byv accelerations of the instruments carrier. Indeed, whenever the instruments carrier is accelerated, the air-jet torque actually produces an erroneous,

from-vertical precession Hence, accelerationerroris governed by the value of the air-jet 'torque employed; that is,.the lower the air-iet torque, the lower the precession rate; and hence,

the lower the acceleration-error. Nevertheless, lt

is necessari/'to make this torque'sufilciently great to overcome the gyro's pivotal hearing-.friction,- which is highly vermine duetoiempcrature :mit

other changes the instrumentexperiencesrwhlle in operation, and due to the fact that this friction isat` times static and at other timeskinetic. In fact, in order to make the instrument militiependable, it must be designed tofriellver anali'- iet torque suiliciently great toioverconie ymost positively, any possible value the--gyros pivotal bearing friction might ,assumeeven under the most extraordinary clrci'mstances; even though this precautionary measure' is conducive to -a high `precessiori rate, and therefore, high accelerationf verrfn'o A i i .ci r.. 1` and, hewever; that the n .ratte and therefore the acceleration-error can be reduced to a new low merely by Ireducing the time that the torque is permitted to act, -rather" than by attempting a .dangerous reduction of the torque itself; hence, another object of the present-in,- vention is to provide a gyro vertical construction including a simple precessionsretarding'd'eviceita thereby reducing a.cceleration-error, s L Another object in this connection is to provide a gyro vertical construction in which the precas- Asion-retarding device is so simple that it maybemounted directly lupon the rotor bearing casing lci the syro vertical and which, therefore, lends r oFFicE gtiie center ci gravity or' the inner gimlial load. The air leaving the interior chamof the rotor bearing casing is conducted erecting mechanism 52 by ineens oi prei, e. plurality or' passages till formed irl this u block.

cessages lead to a chamber li Within Lig s to su port e rotor i3 for rotation. The ro rigid with the shaft i2 so that they rotate together, tne purpose being to assure rc ef tion tne discs one oi which is aliiiiefi to each end of the shaft 'l2 outside of the ballast block A plurality of oucirets l@ ere formed tn periphery of the rotor "i3 and preferably tivo the passages Sil are disposed in opposition to each other and direct their jets substantially tengentially on to the rotor 'i3 so that the sir emerging from the chamber ti will thus be es `plcyecl to cause rotation cf the rotor 'ZS azi-:l its associated discs lf3. Each of the iiiscs 'lf3 is formed with one or more apertures il 'preferably in the form ci peripheral notches with the result tliat es the discs turn, they alternately interesse their riot-lies il enti the solid portions 'it etti/'cen their notches beiore discharge orifices in the sides of the ballast bloeit t3. lit is these orii'ices through which air must leave the client 'q ett-er it is irnpinged upon the rotor ii; hence ne effect of the roteting cilscs iii is to interrupt the iets o flowing from the nozzles it prefereer regular intervals, for e, purpose to ce eiolaii 'zi-eieiiibelcw.

iifiesns ere provided for restricting tlie speeci o rotation of the rotor` it end the discs or iet-cutters it. This is desirable for the reason that tice force or the jets issuing from the passe-ges should oe sufficient to start the rot-or and (lisos in rotation and bring them up to the desired rotational speed Within a reasonably short time; but in tne absence of any means for limiting or restricting their speed, the use of jets of such force would cause the rotor to turn at too iiign a speed, or run sway after its starting inertie nas been overcome, because, in the absence oi y drag upon e turbine rotor, its tentiency is to crease its rotational speed until its peripheral soeeci is equal to the jet velocity. A very simple and yet efficacious manner of so restricting 'the running speed ci the discs is is by associating permanent magnet with preferablgY eacii oi tile discs l5,l eacli magnet 36 being mounted e blc .fr S3 such position that its concessi is es embrace an erige of the associeted --ence, each disc l, which should be comme. ci suitecle electrically conductive mate as aluminum or copper, turns in a plane suits: elly 'perpendiculer to the magnetic lines ci or" its associated inseoet which lines it cui` it Consequently, the magnets t@ will c si es flieg upon the rotating discs which increase their rotational speeti increases. Being relatively irl-effective willi@ the discs are turning et iotv the magnets will impede but slightly the accieration ci the discs as they are beine tirer,L t up to speed, but 'they will opel-ste vee vent the ciiscs from turning et too bien a speed even. though jets of emplee force are employes.

Whereas the orifices 'it may be formeel directly in the material ci which the ballast bloeit is constructed, they mayy for tlie pimicse of convenience of rie, Toe formed in seperate blocks s i adapted to espresse-cl intoor otherwise :mixed to the bloeit @il with ports in communication with discharge uesseges @E which lead laterally from the chercher l l.

Also associated stili eaol'i or" tile discharge orifaces 'd is a blade or vene esclu or which is supported upon e, slieit 'the inner enti of which bears against s suitable thrust member such as a ball iii, the outer esiti oi which is engaged by an adjustable pivot goin Zit. inasmuch as the varies @Si lie between the notched discs lil and the sides of t`-e block the varies are nrovided with notches el arlajcterl to clear tlie sliat 'i2 which carries the discs Furthermore, in

esmucli as the movement ci tlie varies is produced solely by exceedingly smell components of gravitational orceecting thereon, itis desirable that their :means of support ce so designed they can move with the utmost freedom. I

Whereas the ballast 'olcclr serves to lower the center of gravity of the inner eirnoel ring 3l so that the inner ring and its iced are definitely nenclulous, ,the outer gimbel ring til is provided with. e suitable counterbelance si or" such design that the outer gi-mbal ring and its entire -ioati are supported in neutral equilibrium so as to 'ne in# sensitive to the forces of gravity esiti acceleration in tiist transverse, vertical pierre which. includes the rotors aris of spin.

Afiirreci to tire forti/"arri enti oi the forward axial pin of the outer gimbal ring ifi is a pointer or indicating hand itl which is thus caused to move over tile fece or e stationery zliel i @2, through the seme a guiar displacement as the outer einmal M 'ouen it turns upon its asis For tire curjoose oi measuring the angular movement o the ieicating *nenti iti, the dial i i is provided with suitably spaced graduations and calibrations associated there vitiic another dial its is movebly mounted` adjacent the stationary dial it and is provided with gretiuations it? and calibrations itt which corre sponri to those of the stationary diei itil. much es the movable dial l il@ extends ell the way around the periphery of stationary filial lili, it is in title of an cumulus ly disposed tvitliv u:ry rece e itl@ iii fece or" tire essocieteii cap sufi is therein through the expedient of a bezel removalaly secures tc the iore'erci e i?? Meeus are ined "e l i .iso accessible at the iront ci tice instrument is another knurled knob 25, the shaft of which i252 also extends through the iiesel plate lil to receive uson its inner enti e preferably bevelled vvlieel the enige of which is adapted to eri-i gsge the complementary lfievelled edge igi of e, oise itt carried ley enti risfifi titre tortiera nesi yasiel piu 2% oi the outer gimbal ring 2c. The bevallen wheel 23 is normally held out of cone tact with the plate i2@ by ineens ol s, coil spring ifi?, but permits en operator to press the knob 25 inwards 'to bring the wheel i265 into contact with the plate 25, whereupon he may, by turning the knob 23, turn the outer gimbol 2t and thereby bring the indicating hand ii to its zero position with, relation to the dials when the in strunient out oi operation and it is desired to prepare it for operation,

Meeus ere also provided for moving the hund during the operation of the instrument, in the for oi nieces ior producing en articiel procession. A push roel 23 projects through the forward roce of the bezel plete iii and carries upon its inner enel o ring; H32, the diameter of which is only slightly less than the inside diametc-r o the easing ift. s. coil spring i355 on the rofl is under compression between e, guide bracket i3d, rigid with the casing i2 and a coller i555 rigid with the rod E36 urges the rod ii sind the ring tt corrieri thereby toward the iront or the housing li, but permits the operator by pushing the push rod liti to cerry the ring to the right es viewed upon Figures l, 2, and S, to engage the Wheel structure lill revolubly supported es by enti-friction bearings i3@ upon the bottom of the ballast block $8 and in this manner impose s thrust upon the structure supported by the inner ginibal ring 3l, about its axis of suspension; end inasmuch es the gzyro is a portion or the structure carried` by the inner gimbel ring, importing thereto of n thrust as described, will cause the gyro to process und turn about the suis of the other gimbol ring, l." e.. shout the mejor gimbsl axis, as long as the thrust is sustained. The fact that the wheel seccional adjustment, because es the outer gunring turns, the Wheel will merely-roll over the peripheral fece of the thrust ring H32..

ere oleo provided for cugini; the in? strurnent, i. e., iocling it so as to prevent nur movement about the axes while the inw strument is out of. operation ond towards this end the wheel tt? is formed with s conical rccess lili in its under eurisce, adapted to receive the pointed eno" ii'l oi s pin its threaded in s, socket its extending vertically downwards from the bottom of the casing i2. i non-circuler shaft ite is slide-bly clisposed within e complerneritery socket in the lower end of the threaded pin it, whereas the levier enel of the shaft MS is to a bevellecl geur it?, the teeth of which f s enmeshecl with another bevellcd swr carried los o shaft ild extending forward therefrom to espose e narrow knob @Si on its forward end in eccesslbleposition in front of the panel upon which the instrument is inountefl; this panel 52 preferably being the is revolubly suppported, facilitates this pre-- asosvoe Theory of operation and design scopic torque imposed upon the gyro casing,

since the gyro casing is a portion of the pendulous mass. But, inasmuch, as this torque urges the gyro to rotate about the minor gimbal exis.

' there immediately results a procession of the gyro instrrunent panel of the sirplane, Turning the instrument csrrieo by the gimbsls nucl tncreoy protect the suspended mechanism against injury o while the instrument is inoperative or While the coming the instrument is performing ecrouetic maneuvers. r

about the major gimbal axis; and in accordance with the laws of motion, this torque is proportional to the airplane's acceleration, as is also, therefore, in accordance with the laws of gyrascopic action, the rate, wp, at which the procession about the major gimbel axis occurs.

This rate, wp, however, at which the gyro precesses, and consequently at which the pointer turns is` of less interest than the actual angular displacement oi the pointer since the instrument is read by observing the point at which the pointer il comes to rest, and not by observing its angular velocity. Hence, it is desirable to snow the relationship between the pointers azi-,- guiar velocity, op, and its angular displacement, 6,- as follows: v

in conventional symbols for any rotary motion 0=fwlit or applying the genere] low to the present discussion @einer (A) i. e., the pointers angular displacement is the time integral of its angular velocity. Therefore. since the angular velocity or the pointer, i. e., the precessicnal rate' of the gyro, is proportional to the ships acceleration as has already been pointed out, the ultimate position, the distance,

throuoti which the pointer moves is proportional to the shlp's speed.

Hence, by proper calibration of the dial with where C is e constant determined the ratio of the roognitude ci unit a to one unit oi dial graduation. Hence, by substituting (B) in (A) Rr-Cfwpdi (C) torque imposed upon the gyro when the penali/alone mass is acted upon by en acceleration ci' the ship is T=liflf- (D) chere `Z equals the perpendicular distance from tine center of gravity of the pendulous mass M to the exis of its pendulcsity, and f equals acceleration acting upon the pendulous mass to produce the torque T. In symbols acceleration may be shown by d f==-f (E) and substituting (E) in (D) dv T=M1E5 (F) As hereinbefore stated the rate wp, at which the gyro precesses is proportional to the torque T. Furthermore, up is inversely proportional to the product or the angular velocity, wl, of the gyro rotor -53 and therotors moment of inertia, K. In symbols,

wr=m whence.

T=wwxK Equating (G) and (F) w,wlk=m% (H) and integrating,

The value wJc i. e., the position of thepcinter III! with relation to its dial will give a direct reading of the ships speed.

and therefore,

Practica-l operation For various reasons it is yrnost conducive to satisfactory operation of the instrument of the A present invention to have the gyro in such position that its spinning axis is vertical. For instance, with the gyro in this position there is no tendency for the gyro to be caused to precess when the instruments carrier turns. Consequently,means are provided whereby the gyro may be placed in this ideal position, as for ex- 'will then be vertical with the result-that the.

ample, the thrust ring |32 which can be slid,v

axially of the housing ii'by operation of the push rod I'SI; which permits the operator to cause the gyro to precess articially and thereby move the pointer IBI to any desired position, it being understood that when the hand reaches the position desired the operator has merely to release the push rod |21, whereby the precessional movement of the gyro will cease andthe pointer will come to rest.

It is conventional practice for airplanes to b e designed for operation at what is termed an ideal air speed. Consequently after the pilot has brought his ship to this ideal speed he then m has teken with respect to the stationary am |02. This will be a registration of his forward ground speed, as explained hereinabove. ,How-

ever, it may be that this registration occurs with the pointer IUI in some position other than the vertical, say for example, it might be pointing r 'to 75. The operator should then manipulate the knob H3 in such a manner as to rotate the adjustable dial I 06 until the numeral 15 is at the top (opposite the 0 of the stationary dial) and then before permitting the ships speed to vary, the operator should, by the described manipulation of the push-rod |3I, cause the gyro to precess until it comes to rest with the pointer in the corresponding position, i. e., the pointer axis of spin of the rotor 52 also will be vertical; which, as explained, is its most advantageous position. Subsequently to this adjustment, the pilot should read his instrument by comparison of the position of the pointer [0I with respect to the outer, adjustable dial |06. A

Whereas the dials |024 and |06 are calibrated only from 0 to 100, it is obvious, of course. that the instrument is equally effective in measuring speeds in excess of 10() M. P. H. For each 100 M. P. H. of attained velocity, the pointer makes one complete revolution, i. e., if the ship has acquired a speed of 3 25 M. P. H., the pointer will have turned through three and one quarter complete revolutions, coming to rest opposite the numeral 25 of the stationary dial. This, however, is not believed to be conducive to error, because the pilot should be able to Judge the speed of his snip wltmnp 10o M. P. H. merely by the feer' of his ship.

Operation of preoessionretarding mechanism- .or gimbal axis only. This being the case, whenever air rushes through either of the oriiices 1I. the reaction which develops will produce an airjet torque about the maior gimbal axis, which causes the gyro to precess about the minor axis. When the axis of spin is accurately vertical, the two vanes 83 hang in auch a manner that they intercept the jets issuing from both oriilces 19 and thus paralyze the erecting mechanism.

However, instantly any deviation of the axis of spin from vertical occurs about the minor gimbal axis, either one or the other of the vanes 83, depending upon the direction of such displacement, will swing out of registry with its associated oriiice 19, whereupon the full reactive Vforce of the associated jet will become operative upon the pendulous structure, developingan air- Jet torque which causes the gyro to precess so as to return directly to the vertical, it being understood, of course. that the parts aresoarranged that the precession is in the proper direction. This is the well known principle of operation of erecting. mechanisms and is here recited for the purpose of emphasizing the sensitivity of the erecting mechanism to gravity.

is subject to certain acceleration errors when it employs means sensitive to gravityand normally covering the orifices of the erecting mechanism,

should observe the position which the pointer but which are caused to move from their port'- covering positions by gravity when the gyro deviates from its normal position. llt is also a well. understood fact that acceleration-error in a gyro vertical can be kept low by keeping low only the rate of the gyrosu air-jet-produced precession; that is, the precession produced upon an uncovering of one of theprices forming a part of the erecting mechanism; Hence. in order to promote accuracy, the ratpf this procession must be kept low; in fact, the lower this rate the lower the acceleration error. There are three methods of reducing this rate, to-witz'by increasing the radius of gyration of the gyro rotor, by increasing Vthe angular velocity of the gyro rotor, and by lessening the air-jet torque. Because ci. this, the'r'adius of 'gyration and the angular velocity of the rotor are made jas greatl as'practieability will allow; and towardthis same end, the air-jet torque is kept just as low as possible.

.But inthe .endeavor to keep this torque'low, the

designerV is limited by the consideration that it must be of a value capable of producing precession; that is, inexcess `of the maximum frictional, resisting torque at the gimbal bearings. In

fact, the erecting torque must be suiciently great to make allowance for certain unpredictable variables, such as 'variation 'in frictional resistance due to temperature fluctuation and' due to variation in operating conditions. In other words, in order to make the erecting mechanism fully dependable, itsv erecting torque must be materially in excess of not only the greatest frictional resisting torque apt to' be encountered under ordinary operating conditions, but actually materially in excess of the greatestvalue that resistance could possibly assume under the most extraordinary conditions.

l Consequently, in thedevice of the present invention the orifices 19 are so designed thatthe reactive force of thejets is materially in excess of the value that theymust have in order to assure positive operation of the erecting mechanism even under the most uniavorableconditions. It is the incorporation of the rotating, notched discs 14 Withthe erecting mechanism, which, while reducing acceleration-error to a new low, permits such design of the orifices as to make for positive action. This is because whereas the discs do not interfere with the eiectiveness of the jets during those periods Whenthe notches 11 arein .registry with they orifices 19,( they do intercept the jets. at other periods during which the jets im'pose force against the discs equal and opposite to the reactive force of the jets; and inasmuch as the discs'are carried by the rotorbearing casing, i. e., thesame structure as that against which the reactive force 1s imposed, the jets are rendered inefcacious, at least as iar as their ability to produce precession is concerned during the periods while the jets are intercepted. Accordingly, the rotating discs function to interrupi',V operation in the erecting mechanism at recurrent intervals, with the result that they operate to reduce the average rate of its operation,

Y with the result that errors due to acceleration are practically eliminated.

I claim: 1. A ground speed `indicating instrument comprising a gyroscope, means supporting said gyroscope for movement about mutually perpendicular axes, said gyroscopel being in substantially neutral equilibrium about one of said axes and in material pendulosity with respect to the other, means including valve control means sensitive to gravity for restricting movement of said gyroscope about said axis with respect t-o which it is pendulous, and means for measuring precessional movements of said gyroscope about said axis of neutrality.

2. A ground speed indicating instrument comprising a gyroscope, means supporting said gyroscope for movement about mutually perpendicular axes, said gyroscope being in substantially neutral equilibrium about one of said axes and in material pendulosity with respect to the other, erecting means for said gyroscope comprising control means mounted on said gyroscope for movement by gravity when said gyroscope moves about its said axis of pendulosity, means brought into action by movement of said control means for imposing an erecting torque, upon said gyro, and continuously operating means for interrupting said torque-imposing means at recurrent intervals and means for measuring precessional movements of said gyroscope about said axis of neutrality.

3. A ground speed indicating instrument comprising a gyroscope, means supporting said gyroscope for movement about mutually perpendicular axes, said gyroscope being in substantially neutral equilibrium about one of said axes and in material pendulosity with respect to the other, and means including valve control means sensitive to gravity for restricting movement of said gyroscope about said axis with respect to which it is pendulous.

4. A ground speedindicating instrument comprising a gyroscope having three mutually porpendicular axes of angular movement one vbeing the axis ofyspin lof thev rotor of said gyroscope a gimbal having a major and a minor axis providing the other two axes'of angular movement, av support engagingsaid gimbal at said major axis, trunnions o nfsaid .gyroscope above its center of gravity engaging said gimbal at said minor axis. a vcounterpoise on said gimbal above said major axis whereby said gyroscope and gimbals are supported in neutral equilibrium about said major axis and said gyroscope is in stable equilibrium about said minor axis, and an indicator actuated by precessions of said gyroscope about said major axis upon angular inertial movements of said gyroscope about said minor axis.

' THOMAS O. SUMMERS, Ja.

t Cert-icte -of Correction Patent No.2,303,799.A Y December 1, 1942. JIHOMAS O.' SUMMERS, JR. It hereby certifiedA thatA errors appear in the printed specification of the above numbered patent `requiring correction es follows; Page 3, second column, line 11, for wtihfreed withfpege 4, second column, line 38, :for low read law; page 5, `xst column, line 23, strike .out'j' .(H); line 24, after the Word and comme .integratng,

- insert the following- -wgfedf H and that the said Letters Patent should be read -With these corrections therein that,

the same may conform to the record of thelcase in the Patent 0ce.

Signed and sealed this 2nd day of February, A. D. 1943.

[SEAL] 'HENRY' VAN ARsnALE,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

